BEIRUT: Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Friday an explosion that ripped through a Hezbollah arms depot was not premeditated as some Israeli media have suggested.

“The Nabi Sheet incident was not planned. The blast was the cause of a technical [error] and perhaps high temperatures and a failure to sort out old shells stored in the warehouse were the causes,” Charbel said in remarks Friday.

Hezbollah said three of its fighters were killed Wednesday when an explosion ripped through an arms depot in Nabi Sheet, eastern Lebanon.

The blast followed reports that a Hezbollah commander and several fighters had been killed in Syria by anti-regime rebels. The Free Syrian Army has claimed responsibility for the death of one of the fighters.

Military investigating Judge Danny al-Zeini, accompanied by Lebanese Army Intelligence agents, inspected Wednesday night the site of the explosion in Nabi Sheet in an attempt to determine what caused the powerful blast that led to the collapse of the four-story building.

Israeli media reports suggested that Israel could be behind the Nabi Sheet explosion.

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot quoted a senior Israeli security official as hinting at Israel’s involvement in the explosion.

“This explosion amounted to piercing the sword in the heart of Hezbollah,” the unidentified official was quoted as saying.

Similar explosions have occurred at Hezbollah’s weapons depots in southern Lebanon in recent years, also causing casualties.